With Black Friday here, and Cyber Monday just around the corner, so are thieves.

For consumers, it’s a great chance for some deals.

It’s also a great chance for the bad guys to figure out ways to take your money.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Fraud & Cyber Crimes Bureau offered a list of ways to protect yourself, as you bask in the chaos of shopping during the busiest shopping days of the year. Here’s how:

• Don’t use a debit card.

It’s convenient, yes. But according to the bureau, debit cards lack consumer protections of their credit card cousins.

“Should your account be compromised, you can be responsible for a greater share of the loss than if you had used a credit card,” according to the bureau.

Plus, essentially, a debit card is a pointer to money that could very well be your life savings.

• Be wary of online deals that are too good to be true.

Do some research on who you’re buying from.

• Be suspicious if an online seller asks you to wire payment.

Yeah. You might find an item for a super-fantastic price. But if the seller only accepts a money wire transfer, your red flags should go up. And God forbid, once money is wired to an account, it’s not easy to recover it, if it turns out you were the victim of fraud, according to law enforcement officials.

• Make sure you do business with vendors who use secure websites. If you’re not sure, don’t do it. Find someone else.

• Keep an eye on your credit cards — at all times.

• Guard your identity the same as you would your pocketbook. Your identity is just as tantalizing for criminals as your money. With it, they can get credit, and guess who gets stuck with the bill: That’s right. You.

• Be suspicious of people claiming to be from your credit card company who need to “verify” information. Scammers like to gather information that can help them later steal your identity. They’ll call you, claiming to be from your credit card company. They’ll ask if they can verify your personally identifiable information. Be wary. If you think they are legit, hang up and call them back. Their number is on your credit card.

• Keep an eye on your bank statements for suspicious activity.

• Go easy on the free Wi-Fi. The bad guys like to set up fraudulent Wi-Fi spots that capture your data. Hold off, if you can, until you get a secure connection at home. Or just eat up some data on your cellphone.